Charges will not be laid against the bus driver involved in a highway crash that killed 17 seniors near Carberry last year, the Crown and RCMP announced Wednesday.
Crown Attorney Chris Vanderhooft said it is believed a blind spot on the vehicle prevented the driver, who was hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury and is unlikely to improve, from seeing the tractor-trailer that collided with the bus.
RCMP Supt. Rob Lasson said the collision happened because of a choice by the bus driver, but investigators cannot prove the crash was a result of anything criminal.
An RCMP officer near the scene of the deadly collision near Carberry on June 15, 2023. (Matt Georzen / Brandon Sun files)
“Based on the Crown’s review, no charges are being authorized in relation to the collision that occurred,” Lasson, who oversees Manitoba RCMP’s major crime services, said at a news conference.
“As investigators, we hope to provide the why of what happened, and that is why we do what we do. In this case, we cannot say why the bus proceeded into the intersection that day when it was unsafe to do so.”
Lasson said some evidence was “unattainable” because of the driver’s medical situation and the fact many key witnesses on the bus were killed.
He said investigators have been unable to speak to the bus driver and do not anticipate being able to speak to him.
The driver’s cellphone showed no calls or text messages incoming or outgoing at the time of the crash at the intersection of highways 1 and 5, just north of Carberry, on June 15, 2023.
With 25 people on board, the bus was taking seniors, who were from Dauphin and surrounding communities, to a casino south of Carberry.
The bus, headed south on Highway 5 and operated by Quality Care Transit, entered a median and then crossed into the path of a tractor-trailer that was eastbound on the Trans-Canada Highway.
RCMP said the truck driver had the right of way. Southbound and northbound traffic on Highway 5 is controlled by stop and yield signs.
Lasson said he is confident investigators gathered and recovered all evidence that was available to them.
He said officers conducted “countless” hours of interviews, examined evidence and expert reports, reviewed dashcam footage from the tractor-trailer and followed up on every investigative avenue.
The RCMP investigation was sent to the Manitoba Prosecutions Service in January for review and an opinion on whether charges should be laid.
Lasson said the decision not to pursue charges was shared with the victims’ families during a meeting in Dauphin on Wednesday.
The Manitoba government said in January that it will spend $12 million to redesign the intersection.
chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca
Chris Kitching
Reporter
Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.
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